While courts have started to dismiss criminal proceedings against foreign and Indian nationals, bringing an end to their persecution, for many, their suffering continues.
Tablighi Jamaat member Hasan Basry, 27, from Vietnam, who also arrived in March, was supposed to return after just a month, but is living with other members in a mosque in Hyderabad.
“After we stayed two days in Nizammudin in New Delhi, we arrived in Hyderabad. When the lockdown started in the country, I was surprised when I found out a case was registered against us for violation of visa,” he said.
Last month, a local court quashed the arrest and along with other members, he was released with a fine. “Thankfully, I wasn’t sent to jail. We’ve been living in a mosque since April this year. I want to go home, but there are some problems with my visa. I hope to return home soon,” said Basry.
Police also brought cases against Indian nationals. Many are now out of jail after spending months in detention.
“I’m happy that I’ve been released. We were accused of spreading COVID-19, which was shocking,” said one Tablighi member who was jailed in Jharkhand along with 11 others.
He declined to be named, but said the group was picked up in April and finally released on Sept. 2 under a court order. “We were only inside a mosque. Then police said we were responsible for spreading COVID-19. We were jailed for that,” he said.
Supreme Court lawyer Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi told Anadolu Agency he was surprised to see “Tablighi members are prosecuted for provisions regarding the ‘spread’ of a life-threatening disease when most of them never tested positive for COVID-19.”
“Circumstances were so compelling that they had no choice but to enter into a plea bargain so that they could quickly reunite with their families. Effectively we failed to provide them a fair opportunity before the law.